Michigan takes the belt, 31–3, at home over Purdue.
AP poll, week 10: Purdue No. 10 at Michigan No. 13 · No. 1 that week: Michigan State. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Michigan took the belt here, ending Purdue’s run of 7 days and 0 defenses (reign #256) and starting reign #257. It lasted 68 days and 3 defenses, until USC took it on January 1, 2004.
For Michigan this was its 25th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 7 times before — and it took it back here.
It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, Michigan led the belt series 2–0; all-time Michigan leads 3–0. Every meeting →
About this game
Michigan defeated visiting Purdue 31-3 on October 25, 2003, in week 10 of the regular season. With this victory, Michigan took the College Football Belt from Purdue.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 7:40 | Michigan | +14 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass across the middle complete to Braylon Edwards (MICH) for a 14 yard touchdown. |
| Q1 7:40 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q1 2:40 | Purdue | +31 yd | Punt by Brent Slaton (PU) returned 31 yards by Steve Breaston (MICH) to the Wolverines 49. |
| Q1 2:40 | Purdue | +0 yd | Boilermakers fumble by Kyle Orton (PU), recovered by Matt Turner (PU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q1 0:12 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q1 0:12 | Michigan | +21 yd | Steve Breaston (MICH) rushed right side for a 21 yard touchdown. |
| Q2 11:49 | Michigan | +0 yd | Wolverines fumble by Braylon Edwards (MICH), recovered by Braylon Edwards (MICH), advanced for no gain. |
| Q2 2:20 | Michigan | +0 yd | Wolverines fumble by John Navarre (MICH), recovered by Shaun Phillips (PU), returned for no gain. |
| Q2 1:45 | Purdue | +23 yd | Kyle Orton (PU) rushed right side for 23 yards. |
| Q2 1:36 | Purdue | +4 yd | Kyle Orton (PU) pass right side intercepted by Leon Hall (MICH). Returned for 4 yards. |
| Q3 14:55 | Michigan | +0 yd | Wolverines fumble by Chris Perry (MICH), recovered by David Baas (MICH), advanced for no gain. |
| Q3 11:50 | Purdue | +39 yd | Kyle Orton (PU) pass right side complete to Taylor Stubblefield (PU) for 39 yards. |
| Q3 9:50 | Purdue | +27 yd | 27 yard field goal by Ben Jones (PU) is good. |
| Q3 7:00 | Michigan | +26 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass right side complete to Braylon Edwards (MICH) for a 26 yard touchdown. |
| Q3 8:00 | Michigan | +23 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass left side complete to Braylon Edwards (MICH) for 23 yards. |
| Q3 7:00 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q3 5:20 | Purdue | +0 yd | Boilermakers fumble by Kyle Orton (PU), recovered by Tyler Moore (PU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q3 1:40 | Purdue | +21 yd | Kyle Orton (PU) pass right side complete to John Standeford (PU) for 21 yards. |
| Q4 12:28 | Michigan | +0 yd | Extra point by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q4 12:28 | Purdue | -1 yd | Boilermakers fumble by Jerod Void (PU), recovered by Markus Curry (MICH), returned for a 1 yard touchdown. |
| Q4 11:00 | Purdue | +0 yd | Boilermakers fumble by Kyle Orton (PU), recovered by Kyle Orton (PU), advanced for no gain. |
| Q4 9:00 | Michigan | +34 yd | John Navarre (MICH) pass right side complete to Jason Avant (MICH) for 34 yards. |
| Q4 5:50 | Michigan | +27 yd | 27 yard field goal by Garrett Rivas (MICH) is good. |
| Q4 5:42 | Purdue | +21 yd | Kyle Orton (PU) pass left side complete to John Standeford (PU) for 21 yards. |
| Q4 5:25 | Purdue | +0 yd | Kyle Orton (PU) pass right side intercepted by Leon Hall (MICH). Returned for no gain. |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 232980130) · This game in the downloadable dataset